A weekend in County Louth and Dublin

As we had bad weather for weeks now, I was really yearning for a weekend out. This time I went to  Carlingford in County Louth the north east coast of the Irish Republic, right up to the border of Northern Ireland. The weather was still not wonderful, but at least it did not rain.

It got late and I was looking out for a hotel for the night, but each hotel or bed and breakfast I contacted by phone, was booked out. I was very surprised as the hotel industry is always complaining that their business is getting bad. It can't be so bad, when they are booked out, though the weather is dreadful here. So I moved back towards Skerries in County Dublin, but I could not get accommodation there neither.

I ended up in the Holiday Inn, my  preferred hotel, where I stay most times when I am in Dublin. Their prices are reasonable and the rooms are clean and that is all  I need.

I love the sea and I can't get enough of it, so I drove along the coast through Dun Laoire, where a French festival took place. I actually did not see many french things. I got a nice necklace from an Irish stand, I had Curry Chicken from a Chinese stand and  had Pizza from an Italian, but never mind, it was a nice afternoon.

Though you are in the capitol city of Ireland, you have the opportunity to go swimming or walk on a beach as Dublin is next to the sea

The weather got even better than I thought and I could enjoy a few sunrays and warmth for a change.

Fotos by Margit Anna Binder

Weather forecasts in modern days

We are living in the the 21st Century and we should think that our modern high technologies should be able to make more accurate predictions. We have satellites and lots of other modern facilities to watch the weather, but as it seems, we only can say the weather for today, the day when it happens. That means, that I look out of the window and see, if it is sunny or grey, if it might rain or not..... it is like in ancient times.

The meteorologists predicted the hottest summer on record. We waited and waited and waited and up to now the hot summer still did not arrive. After we all realised we will get a wet and unfriendly July, the weather  men told us that the weather will become bad, "but we will get tropical weather soon", they promised. So, the "sun hungry" Irish  were then longingly waiting for the tropical weather to arrive,  but no sign of a sun ray. Now, as July is over and we see no changes, the clever meteorologists came to the conclusion that we won't have a proper summer this year, it is actually the coldest since decades. It is as if last years winter is continuing until the next one marches into the land. People who are yearning for a bit of sunshine and warmth have to go to Spain or Greece or other Southern countries, if they can afford it.

Photo by Margit Anna Binder

Blarney Castle, Co. Cork

Denis had to go to Blarney and I decided to join him to get out for a while. The day was not too bad and while he visited a company, I was strolling around and as I thought Denis meeting would take longer, I went into the Blarney garden. Pity, that I could not stay long, as I liked the place very much!

I did not see the castle and garden properly, so I promise to be back soon to have a closer look.

Fotos by Margit Anna Binder

GRAIGUENAMANAGH in County Kilkenny

As the promised hottest summer of the century did not arrive yet, we had to use the opportunity to get out yesterday. It was dull, but at least it did not rain and it was relatively warm, about 18 degrees.
I remember when I came to Ireland first, I found the summers here freezing cold, I was used to 30 degrees and more,but you have to take what you get, though I have to admit that I still miss the sunny hot days.

Da der heisseste Jahrhundertsommer noch nicht eingetroffen ist, mussten wir die Gelegenheit gestern nutzen, um ein bisschen rauszugehen. Es war trüb, aber zumindest regnete es nicht und es war relativ warm, ca. 18 Grad C. Ich erinnere mich, als ich das erste Mal nach Irland kam, da empfand ich die Sommer hier fröstelnd kalt. Ich war an Temperaturen um die 30 Grad und mehr gewöhnt, aber man muss es so nehmen, wie es kommt, obwohl ich zugeben muss, dass mir die sonnigen, heissen Tage noch immer sehr fehlen.

We walked along the Canal in Graiguenamanagh, the village where Denis' father comes from, which is situated in the Barrow Valley in Co. Kilkenny, . It is a nice, peaceful place with a long walking path, where you can enjoy nature, without being bothered by loud tourist crowds.

Wir marschierten den Kanal in Graignuenamanagh entlang, dem Dorf, wo Denis Vater geboren wurde und welches im Barrow Tal in County Kilkenny liegt. Dies ist ein netter, friedlicher Ort mit langen Wanderwegen, wo man die Natur geniessen kann, ohne von lauten Touristenschwärmen umgeben zu sein.

We passed some march land with lots of wild flowers and I asked Denis if you could get stuck in the mud. He said he would not think so. Then he called me further down, as he spotted a sheep. "That is a strange one," he said, "it has two colours, brown in the back." We took a closer look with the camera and noticed it was injured in the back. There was a big baldy patch, covered in blood with lots of flys attacking the wound.

Wir kamen an einem Marchland mit vielen wilden Blumen vorbei und ich fragte Denis, ob man darin stecken bleiben könnte. Denis verneinte, doch kurz darauf rief er mich zu sich, weil er ein Schaf gesichtet hatte. "Das sieht eigenartig aus," meinte er, "es hat zwei Farben, braun am Hinterteil." Wir schauten uns das Tier mit der Kamera näher an und bemerkten, dass es am Rücken eine Verletzung hatte. Da war eine grosse haarlose Stelle zu sehen, die mit Blut bedeckt war und etliche Fliegen attackierten die Wunde.

"Poor creature," said Denis, "it must have been stuck in the mud." We felt so sorry for the sheep and felt even worse when it starred at us with a desperate look, as if it wanted to say: "Please help !"

"Arme Kreatur," sagte Denis, "es muss im Schlamm steckengeblieben sein," Das Schaf tat uns unendlich leid und wir fühlten uns sogar noch schlechter, als es uns mit einem verzweifelten Blick anstarrte, als wollte es sagen: "Bitte helft mir!"

We went back as fast as we could and drove to the police station. There we showed the pictures of the poor animal and told the officer the location where it was to find. He promised to send a veterinary to the place and to look for the owner of the sheep. We did what we could and hope the sheep will recover!

Wir machten uns eiligst auf den Rückweg und fuhren zur Polizeistation. Wir zeigten dem Wachmann die Bilder, die wir von dem armen Tier gemacht hatten und beschrieben die Stelle, wo es zu finden war. Er versprach uns einen Tierarzt dorthin zu entsenden und nach dem Schaf zu sehen und den Besitzer ausfindig zu machen. Wir haben getan, was wir tun konnten und hoffen, dass das Schaf das übersteht!

Fotos by Margit Anna Binder

The Tall Ship Race 2011 in Waterford

I was at the Tall Ship Festival on Friday 1. July and I was rather disappointed. There were not as many tall ships as I expected, I  saw maybe ten or twelve and a few small ones, but I did not come to see the small ones. There are lots of food stalls, but most of them offer only food and I find it very uncomfortable to eat and having nothing to drink with it. A stall's owner told me that they are not allowed to sell drink, which I found does not make sense. It was hard to walk through the crowds of people and lots of barrieres made it even harder to get through.

I had a few snacks, looked around and after 3 hours I had enough and went home.

What I really would love to see is when the ships leave together and when they are in full sail, but I will have to get up early to see that and I have to look for a good spot somewhere outside of Waterford City.

Fotos by Margit Anna Binder

Dublin - Ireland's capital city

The river Liffey runs through the city and the Half Penny Bridge  pronounced Hepny Bridge, which is the most famous bridge in Dublin, brings you from one side of the river to the other.

The singer and songwriter Carol King wrote the song "Hardrock Cafe", which was a hit in the 70s or 80s, but she obviously meant the Hard Rock Cafe in the USA and not the one in Dublin, which I suppose does not exist so long.

Drummer Boy with his Bodhran and Leprechauns
with Molly Mallone

A lovely old Pub, I would have like to visit it, if it was not so early in the day.

An English Beefeater in Dublin? That can't be true! Maybe a joke?

Photos by Margit Anna Binder

Achill Island and surroundings

We went to County Galway in the province Connacht on Easter Saturday. Connacht is the one with the least vegetation of the 4 provinces in Ireland. It is very hard to grow something on this rugged land, but the Irish, who were told by Oliver Cromwell "to go to hell or to Connacht" around the year 1650, survived and made the area to what it is today - a very peculiar landscape, which is visited by many tourists every year.

Am Ostersamstag machten wir uns auf den Weg nach County Galway in die Provinz Connacht. Connacht ist diejenige mit der geringsten Vegetation von allen 4 Provinzen in Irland. Es ist sehr schwierig etwas auf diesem unwirtlichen Land anzubauen, aber die Iren, welche von Oliver Cromwell etwa im Jahr 1650  "in die Hölle oder nach Connacht" geschickt wurden, überlebten und machten das Gebiet zu dem, was es heute ist - eine einzigartige Landschaft, welche jährlich von vielen Touristen besucht wird.

We passed through the Western part of County Galway, called Connemara, which lies between Lough Corrib and the Atlantic. The original name of Connemara was Conmaicnamara or the tribe of Cormac by the sea.

Wir fuhren durch den westlichen Teil von County Galway, Connemara genannt, welcher zwischen dem Lough = Lake Corrib und dem Atlantik liegt. Der Originalname von Connemara war Conmaicnamara oder der Stamm der Cormac beim Meer.

The bog has a long tradition in Ireland, especially in that area, as it supplied the people with enough turf to heat their houses and make it possible to cook the daily meal.  After centuries of this tradition, the EU restricted the cutting of the turf and offered a small compensation to the turf cutters, which was 1000 Euro per year over 5 years, but that would not even cover the turf cutter's heating expenses or their income losses from the sale of surplus turf.

Der Torfabbau im Moor hat eine lange Tradition in Irland, speziell in diesem Gebiet, da es die Menschen mit genug Brennstoff versorgte, um ihre Häuser zu beheizen und ihre täglichen Mahlzeiten zu kochen. Nach einer mehrere hundertjährigen Tradition, hat die EU dem Torfschneiden Einhalt geboten und den Torfschneidern eine kleine Ausgleichszahlung von 1000 Euro pro Jahr über 5 Jahre angeboten, woduch nur einen kleinen Teil der Heizkosten abgedeckt ist, von dem Verdienstentgang bei einem Verkauf ganz abgesehen.

You see lots of abandoned stone houses like this in Irleand. Our journey brought us to Achill Island in County Mayo, which is connected to the mainland by a small bridge only. You will find a whole deserted village with remains of  80 - 100 buildings  there.

In Irland sieht man viele verlassene Steinhäuser, wie dieses. Wir fuhren weiter zur Insel Achille in County Mayo, welche durch eine Brücke mit dem Festland verbunden ist. Dort findet man ein ganz verlassenes Dorf mit 80-100 Überresten von Steingebäuden.

As you may observe yourself, Achill Island with it's various and diverse views is a breathtaking area to visit. The Great Western Greenway was completed last year and you can ride your bicycle or hike across  the lovely landscape, knowing you and the kids are safe from the road traffic.

We du selbst feststellen wirst, ist die Insel Achill mit ihren unterschiedlichen Aussichten ein atemberaubendes Gebiet. The Great Western Greenway wurde im letzten Jahr fertiggestellt und somit kannst du mit dem Fahrrad ungehindert durch die herrliche Landschaft fahren und bist sicher vor dem Autoverkehr.

If you are looking for an accommodation in County Galway, we would suggest to investigate B&Bs, as the hotels, we found are very expensive in the season. The hotels are cheaper in Mayo, but I still prefer B&B, as they are often cleaner, quieter and more personal.

Wenn du eine Unterkunft in Galway suchst, würden wir vorschlagen ein B&B zu wählen, da die Hotels in der Saison sehr teuer sind. In Mayo sind sie etwas billiger, aber ich bevorzuge trotzdem B&Bs, weil sie oft sauberer, ruhiger und persönlicher sind.

Passing through rugged areas,  lakes (lochs), hills, streams and mountains, you arrive at the Atlantic Ocean on the Western coast. Next Stop America. By the way, the official language on Achill Island is Gaelic.

Von steinigen Arealen, vorbei an  Seen, Hügeln, Bächen und Bergen zum atlantischen Ozean auf der Westküste. Nächster Halt Amerika! Nebenbei erwähnt, die offizielle Sprache auf Achill (ausgesprochen Akl) Island ist gälisch.

There are more sheep on the island than humans, I believe.

Ich denke, es gibt mehr Schafe als Menschen auf der Insel,  da sie so dünnbesiedelt ist.

I was so overvelmed of the beauty sometimes that I had only one word, which was "Wow"!

Ich war oft so überwältigt von der Schönheit, dass ich nur ein Wort dafür hatte und das war "Wow"!

A big "Thank you" to my partner Denis, who planned the journey and took me out for a nice Easter weekend to mine and his first visit to this area!

Herzlichen Dank an meinen Parnter Denis, der die Reise geplant und mir ein schönes Osterwochenende, meinen und seinen ersten Besuch in dieser Landschaft, beschert hat.

Fotos by Margit Anna Binder